Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Has $1.65 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 113 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.95 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $143.09 and its 200-day moving average is $138.56. The company has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.